Imagine a world in which as part of their basic substances tomatoes contain fish and tobacco, potatoes contain chicken, moths and other insects, and corn contains fireflies. Is this science-fiction? No, these plant-animal hybirds already exist today and may soon be on your supermarket shelves without any special labelling to warn you. Furthermore, in a few years the types of these genetically engineered "vegetables" are sure to increase and may very posssibly also include human genes. If you are a vegetarian, do you want to be in the position of inadvertently eating vegetables that are part meat? Even if you are not a vegetarian, are you ready to become a cannibal and eat foods that are part human being?

Few Buddhists are aware of what genetic engineering is, the research that is being done, and the developed technologies that are now being implemented. Genes are the fundamental chemical codes that determine the physical nature of all living things, from the tiniest single-celled organism to human beings. When you tamper with the genes, you are tampering with the natural patterns of our world at the most basic and most dangerous level. This is extremely hazardous, and it will be difficult to escape the long-term dangers and disasters that will most certainly occur. Nonetheless, major international corporations are now greedily scrambling for the short-term profits to be gained through genetic engineering. Unfortunately, they are overlooking ethical issues and unconcerned about the serious consequences. Governments are providing little or no regulation.

What can we as Buddhists do about the situation? For a start, we can, in the light of the Buddhadharma, educate ourselves about what is happening. Then we can inform our governments and elected officials and urge them to do whatever is possible to inform the public, label foods, prevent the most blatant dangers, and slow down the progress on the road toward major disaster.

In the United States the Biotechnology Policy Center, National Wildlife Federation, 1400 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036 is a good source of information. Yet even they are unaware of fundamental Buddhist and other religious objections to genetic engineering. The United States Government welcomes direct public input to help them decide policy. You can write directly to Dockets Management Branch, HFA 305 (Docket No. 92N-0139), Food and Drug Administration, Rm. 1-23, 12420 Parklawn Drive, Rockville, MD 20857. Senators and members of the House of Representatives can also be made aware of your concerns. I hope that readers in other countries will also become informed about this issue.

Dr. Ronald Epstein has studied with erudite and well-known psychologists and religious people. His wide travels in Europe and North Africa included a period of independent study at the University of Paris. He received a degree with honors from the psychology branch of the Social Relations Department at Harvard University.

He also served as a research assistant at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, held a National Science Foundation Stipend for psychological research, and served on numerous other research staffs. In order to understand the philosophical and religious writings of China, he learned Chinese and also became interested in meditation. After he met Venerable Master Hua, he was advised to go to Taiwan to study Chinese more deeply, and he looked for Good and Wise Advisors to help him understand proper Dharma. Returning to the United States, he took refuge with Venerable Master Hua in 1967. He received a Master's and Ph.D. in Chinese Language and Literature at the University of California at Berkeley. Devoted to the study of Dharma, he has been involved in translating Buddhist Sutras, and has orally translated the Venerable Master's Dharma talks. He has led many Westerners to the study of Buddhism. It was when he led over hirty students from Seattle to request the Dharma, that the Venerable Master Hua held a ninety-six day Shurangama Sutra Dharma Assembly and expounded the great Dharma.

Dr. Epstein has a daughter Shari and a son Andre. Shari was the first graduate of the elementary and high schools at the City of Ten Thousand
Buddhas, and she recently graduated with a combined B.A. and M.A. in Asian Studies from Stanford University. Dr. Epstein currently teaches Philosophy and Religion at San Francisco State University.